Rain Luck
by Turtle-chan in Blue
Summary: A wanderer may have finally found her place. Implied HitsuKarin
1. The Beginning

**I do not own Bleach.**

* * *

She was a dragon. She was flying, free, without a care. She flew with the wind blowing at her silver and black hair, and the clouds welcomed her with their fluffy texture and happy gestures.

She was flying over her homeland, or China as they called it. The people, humans, living there were as tiny as ants from up where she was. But the problem that came with humans from her homeland was that they could see her.

Not that it mattered, but a problem nevertheless.

But she made a fatal mistake that day, she forgot about it.

She swooped upward letting her body move after her, then down to a lake's surface and glide over it.

She didn't notice the helicopter and the humans in army suits waiting for her to land. Finally she did over a cliff with a magnificent view. The clouds, a bad sign, momentarily covered the sun but it was gone unnoticed.

Out of nowhere the dragon heard the voices of the military and the sound of arms. But it was too late for escape. The bullets caught her neatly in her face and she opened her mouth to roar. Then a small but quick human quickly pulled out a small green ball and pulled something out of it. Then he threw it into her mouth.

It exploded.

She let out a high-pitched screech and threw herself at the little man. He dodged, and she fell. And then they threw a weave of rope over her. They had successfully caught her. She withered in the weave but only managed to tangle herself within it more. Then when all hope was lost, she stopped and gave up. The humans chattered in their language, some even insulting her.

This was too much, she was only a young dragon, and what were they going to do?

A man came up to her. The man was bald with thick glasses, thinning white hair and a white lab coat. He talked speedily and waved paper in her face. The crowd, now quiet, began to whisper a chant.

"So fat, so lazy, so ugly,"

She tensed, not knowing whether it was good or bad. They got louder and louder.

"So bad at things, so weird, so sad,"

She closed her eyes willing the chant to go away, but they only got louder until they were screaming at her.

"So stupid! So angry! So selfish!"

That seemed to do it. A little part of her began to chant along with the crowd, then the part gained more control, and grew louder and louder.

She moaned, screeched, and slashed around trying to make them stop, but it didn't.

All of a sudden, music was heard. It was a quiet, whistling sound that she made at the moment. The crowd went silent, and stared at her, then the sky.

The sun came out of the clouds at that moment, and a flash of light blinded her kidnappers for a minute. But that was all she needed.

She shot towards the sky, ripping the weave in the process. A few were quick enough to catch her and grabbed her tail, but with a simple flick of it, she got rid of them, and she was free.

Now she headed towards the west, towards America. _A place like no other_ as they said. A few of her precious scales were lost and her hair was ragged, but it was a small price to pay for freedom. Her body almost swam after her head, and she was flying again.

She thought she heard the music calling her name again. _Rain Luck._ But it wasn't the music, it was another dragon.

_Ice Ring _they called him or _Hyourinmaru_. A beautiful dragon covered with ice with two ice wings. He was basically a western version of her, and her biggest rival.

_What are you doing? _He hissed.

_What's it look like? I'm leaving._ She says emphasizing I'm.

_You can't leave _he demands _you have a duty to fulfill!_

_I am never going to be part of one of those soft-skinned humans ever. _

_Even if you do not want to, the gods created you as one of us. You cannot escape this duty._

Damn him! He always knew how to win an argument.

_Who am I 'partnered' with?_ She asked.

_One of Zangetsu's wielder's little sister. _He answers.

One of them, she thinks, meaning there is more than one.

They go in a circle in the air for a while before heading east, towards Japan now. Going at there speed they got there in about an hour. They circled about the she-dragon's destination.

_The black haired one. _He hissed once more before disappearing to his own wielder.

She dives into the small clinic and finds the room where the girls were kept. She nearly filled the entire room, surprised that the room doesn't break. Another was in that room, a boy, eight years old maybe, and Zangetsu. He looks up just long enough to make eye contact before looking at the boy again.

Looks like he already claimed him, she thought.

Then she turned her attention to the girls. One had brown hair, and that sweet look on her face, sleeping and smiling at the same time. She looked like she was going to be sweet and gentle. Basically she not the dragon at all. The other however had a scowl on her face, with messy black hair, and both radiating reiatsu and spunk.

_The black-haired one._

The dragon entered her soul. It was a warm almost like a summer day. The heat was a nice change from the cold winds for the dragon.

And she decided to rest. Later on in life the girl will summon her, and she will help the girl in whatever troubles. She will be with her and when the girl dies, she will also be given death.

But that was later. Right now, she rested, like all the other zanpakuto when they aren't needed.

And then she heard music.

* * *

_I don't know if you can tell, but this was a pre-typed story to an assignment that i spaced out and added things to. shame on me... Anyways, my thanksgiving sucked. my dragon pic sucked for project. __and do you think i should do a full length story or more one-shots? :)_

**_Reviews?_**


	2. A Death

**I do not own Bleach.**

* * *

Karin strolled down the street veering off an uneven course. She was going to soccer practice in a new field since the captain kid ruined the old one.

Also she was being stalked. Her stalker? None other than the shinigami that was assigned here.

Currently he was hiding behind a pole that wasn't nearly thick enough to hide him, peering at her, with his Afro sticking up, and his sword next to him, like he was sure no one could see him. Yeah right.

Karin got very frustrated with him after a while. Instead of using shunpo or a really quick sprint, he made a half-hearted attempt to chase after her, and he ran. How was she suppose to explain to people why the pebbles moved?

Finally she got fed up.

"YOU!" she said pointing to the shocked man "I CAN SEE YOU!"

The Afro dude immediately retreated off running to the way she came from. He's seen cases of her infamous temper and he did not want to be on the receiving end. So he convinced himself that there was a hollow somewhere…not here.

Karin in all her frustration kneed the ball in her net. The net ripped and the ball bounced into the middle of the street. She went and bent over to pick it up then she noticed that her nails were dirty.

But while she was observing them, on the street, a car turned the corner. Ten police cars, for illegal drugs and robbery, were chasing the car. The car drove at 95 mile per hour. (152.9 kilometers per hour) the divers didn't care who was on the road, so certainly they didn't stop.

She was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The car hit her, and she flew into the air before hitting the asphalt. She landed at an angle on her head so that her neck cracked instantly.

She was dead before anyone could do anything.

Half of the police kept chasing the car, the other half stopped around the girl. It was chaos, people all over her, poking her, checking, CPR, and calling the hospitals. But they all knew it was all over for her.

* * *

Kurosaki Isshin bounced all around his home looking for his two children that were home. He knew Karin had left a long time ago for soccer practice, but why wasn't she home yet?

He found his other children in the kitchen, sitting across from each other, looking at a few sheets of paper. Yuzu had a pillow in her arms, her head was bowed and he could see the tear stains on her cheeks. Ichigo also had his head bowed, and his hands were curled up into fists on the table. Isshin couldn't see either of their eyes.

"WHAT'S WRONG MY CHILDREN!! WHY—" he didn't finish his sentence, for Ichigo suddenly stood up and handed him the papers, with his head bowed.

Isshin recognized the papers. A paper he had to do many times. A paper for a person who died. It was Karin's.

His smile, a minute ago wide one his cheeks, disappeared in a flash. His shoulder hunched and his hands became fists. His eyes however, blanked.

Yuzu simultaneously burst into tears and began to cry into the pillow. Ichigo lifted his head just enough so his father could see his eyes. They told a story, not of one of the greatest shinigami that has ever lived, but of a boy who lost a mother, and a sister.

He wordlessly walked past his father. Isshin stared at Yuzu who fell out of her seat and was curled into a fetal position on the ground, sobbing loudly.

A lone tear escaped his eyes, and he was no longer one of the greatest captains but an old broken man.

And just when he thought it couldn't get worse, it did.

* * *

Isshin and Ichigo sat next to each other watching static on the TV. All the shows seemed very petty and shallow now. It was because there was no one here to insult them anymore. Yuzu fell asleep on the couch sometime ago, still crying in her sleep. It was after all midnight.

The two men still found some hope. They hoped that maybe they could be able to search out Karin's soul and perform the Konso on her. It was a small hope, for there were hollows, other soul reapers, and a limited number of days before she becomes a hollow.

But it was hope.

Just then a flash of light blinded them from behind. A Senkaimon was just opened. Out of it came the captain commander and his two most trusted captains, Ukitake and Shunsui.

"Guess what, Ichigo!" Ukitake was pratically bursting with excitement, "we've finally got the Central 46 to let you come to the Soul Society even if you aren't dead!"

It would have been good new for the old Ichigo and Isshin, but not today.

"Karin-chan…" muttered an awaked Yuzu. She still couldn't see spirits. All she saw were fuzzy shapes.

"Karin-chan…, Karin-chan…, Karin-chan" she began to mutter, then she started to scream "KARIN-CHAN!!"

Then she started to cry. Her brother and father could only stare, Ichigo, went and patted her back, but he just stared straight on. So was with his father.

Ukitake's smile faltered. He could see the misery here, the pain, and how broken they were. They were not the same as before.

Shunsui looked over at the captain commander who gave him a little nod. Then he went over to the now even smaller family. In his hand he held a necklace, a small necklace with a starfish at the end. It was a reiatsu amplifier. Something needed for this Kurosaki if she wanted to see them. He gently put it around her neck, and the fuzzy shapes began to take form. She saw two middle-aged men and one really old one.

The first question she asked was "Can I see Karin-chan?"

"No child," the captain commander answers, "you and your family are leaving."

"But Karin-chan is my family!" she says a little hysterical. "Onii-chan told me told me of konso and spirts! Can't we see her?!"

"It takes a few days for a soul to awaken after it's death."

"THEN I'LL WAIT THE DAYS! JUST LET ME SEE HER!!" she starts screaming.

"You and your family are leaving now, under my orders."

That stunned them all. They didn't expect to leave so early. They were hoping to see a dead family member first.

Yuzu once again began to brawl her eyes out. The rest just stared at the captains who now wore sympathetic faces. After some time, Ukitake began,

"Well, we also brought Rukia with us…just in case."

The gate opened again to reveal Rukia, clearly happy with the news. The sight in front of her made her stop. She looked across the faces of the family twice then her smile faltered.

"Where's Karin?"

Yuzu started to wail again, and Isshin just watched. Ichigo stood there unmoving for a minute then went upstairs. Rukia followed after him.

He wasn't in his room, or anywhere else in the upper floor. Rukia had a feeling that he was on the roof, and she was right.

"Ichigo, I'm sorry." She said.

She could not even begin to imagine losing anyone precious to her, and he already lost two of them. She gently wrapped him in a hug.

"And I had hoped to perform the konso on her." It was barely a mutter, but Ichigo did say that.

"Looks like it's going to rain…" he said. It was a cloudless night, as Rukia almost pointed out. Until she saw the tears.

* * *

_wow, this is the most serious thing i have ever typed, i better get a compliment or two. some reviewers thought this could become a story so i made it into one. it will be short. i hope you will like it. i typed it up while watching a very serious movie on youtube, (so this could be serious) and i realized, i'm slowly turning emo. O_O oh well (^^') LOL_

**_Reviews??_**


	3. A Konso

**I do not own Bleach. **

* * *

A little girl woke up in the middle of the street one day. It was the same street Kurosaki Karin had died on. The girl had a chain with six links sticking out of her chest. She was the dead, the soul of Karin.

"I need to find them," she said to herself.

She remembered once when her brother told her about souls. She knew when the six links breaks, she'll become a hollow. She needed a konso.

She started her lumbering way to her old home.

_**(Karin's P.O.V.)**_

It didn't take me a long time to get home even though I wasn't use to this body yet. Or at least what was left of my home.

The clinic sign was gone, the rooms were empty, and my family, they weren't anywhere. Did they leave me? Sure looked like it. They didn't even leave a note of where they were gonna go. Even though I had a pretty good idea. What bout the konso?

I started out of the door to a new place and wound up at the railings above the soccer place. I still remember as clear as day that captain. I forgot his name though. Something —Shiro.

The railing wasn't comfy, but I was surprised I could sit. The sun was too bright and cheery, but I was surprised I could even look at it. I was dead, I had three links on my chain, I highly doubted the Afro dude could do anything.

Something wet, and warm slid down my face. A tear. I had promised myself when mom died that I would never cry in my lifetime. Well, I died, meaning my life ended. What now?

"Kurosaki?!" came an incredulous voice from behind me.

"Hmph," I grunted. I had pride. I wasn't gonna let people see me in my weakened state. Wait, why could he see me?

The person, much to my surprise, came and sat down with me. He was also, much to my surprise, was a taicho, not just any taicho but the tenth's taicho. Something—Shiro. He walked up next to me and sat on the railing never once facing me.

"Why are you here?" I ask while quickly wiping away the tear.

He grumbled a little bit, then he answered "To escape. Anyone can find me in Soul Society, but it's harder in the real world."

"Why here?" I ask.

"I've told you before, my memories." He sounded a little annoyed. I decided not to push the topic.

"What's your name?" I finally ask.

"Hitsugaya Toshiro." He replied now with annoyance laced within the word.

Then he turned his face to look at me. Our eyes met once then his became unfocused on my face. Then it finally focused on my chest. If it were any other place, time, or person, I would have punched them. But I was dead, and I had a chain on my chest.

"Are you dead?" it came out more like a statement than an answer.

"Yeah," I answer, "Where are Ichi-nii and my family?"

"The captain-commander ordered for them to come to the Soul Society. We need all the taichos we can get."

"What about me?!" I nearly cry out.

"Currently the state in which the Soul Society is in is more important matter." He sounded frustrated.

I was defeated. I clearly meant second then. We were quiet for a while, none of us knowing the right words to describe our thoughts. It was a long and uncomfortable silence, one we did not enjoy.

Finally I ask of him one last thing. "Hey Toshiro?"

"Yeah,"

"Can you perform the konso on me?"

His eyes softened just a little bit. He pitied me, I could tell.

But all the same he answered "Sure,"

He raised his sword and dark clouds ominously covered the sky. His sword began to glow a light blue color. The hilt looked kinda not like what I had seen in pictures of katanas. The very end of the hilt was practically white. He touched the end on to my forehead, successfully stamping it. Then he half smiled.

I made an attempt to make a weak smile. Although this was what was suppose to happen, something felt terribly wrong.

I made a half-hearted wave before the darkness swallowed me up. My shoes and socks disappeared, and although I felt something solid beneath my feet and I could walk, I didn't know if I was moving. The darkness was so thick; I could have cut it with a knife. Everything was pitch black except for me; I was the only thing with color.

I walked, and walked for a time. There was nothing to do but wonder where I was. When it felt like hours had passed, something happened.

A blue light, from the top of me, shown for a moment. Then it grew, and it got bigger and bigger, then a second later, a dragon was 30 meters in front of me. A blue, ice dragon with wings and red eyes glared, not at me, but at the space behind me. I felt a whoosh of air coming from that space, and another dragon flew at him from above me. A she dragon, half blue, half green with black and silver hair.

_Where did she come from?_ I wondered. I had never seen her.

The two dragons were circling one another. The air next to the she dragon crackled with electricity and dark clouds gathered at her tail. The air next to the ice dragon froze, and vapor came out of his mouth. They looked ready to tear each other's throats out. The tension was virtually visible.

We were the only things with color. They didn't pay attention to me at all.

I got the sense that maybe they knew where this was, and moved towards them, but my feet didn't. I looked down and realized that I was knee deep in black. I struggled a little bit, but I just sank faster. I started to wave my arms and shouting to get their attention, but no noise came from my mouth, and they didn't see me. Neck deep, I made a few more attempts at getting the dragon's attentions, and then gave up.

All of a sudden the ice dragon jerked his head towards me, and the other one turned and saw that only my face was above the black. Ignoring what ever she was just doing she sped towards me at full speed.

But she was too late, and whatever were my memories up till that point disappeared.

_**(Birds-eye-view)**_

_Hyourinmaru! _The she dragon hissed, _why didn't you warn me earlier that the girl was drowning?!_

The ice dragon shrugged then looked at his rival. _It didn't seem that important. _

_Fool! If any harm comes to that girl, I will personally visit and tear your throat out! _She hissed with malice laced within the words.

The ice dragon smirked; _I like to see you try. Besides only her memories would be wiped out. _

She had to agree to that, but she worried anyways.

* * *

_i have very good reasons for not doing anything 1) i was lazy 2) i had homework. the H1N1 vaccine hurts. oh, and i have came to a point in the story where i would need the japanese english spelling of the words **Rain Luck**_ _i can translate it into chinese but not japanese. and i need to study hitsu's attacks and special words and come up with my own. shakespeare's fun but not when you have to take notes on it._

**_Reviews???_**


	4. To Tell

**I do not own Bleach.**

* * *

He paused outside of the door. The fifth division door. He knew what to expect though, heck, he knew about it all too well.

He took a breath and opened the door, of course there was no light in the room, or space to walk in. The paperwork, the books, everything, did eventually pile up. But at least the sea of decay isn't spreading, he hopes.

He stepped through the books, _How to Write Calligraphy, How to Speak Publicly, How to Be a Good Leader, Othello, _he almost tripped when he saw that last one. Kurosaki wasn't known for liking Shakespeare. A tragedy based on jealousy, he had more than his share of those.

He stepped over the over flowing trash bin full of food, paper, underwear?! He didn't even want to know. A weak cry came from one of the huge mounds of books,

"Help, somebody, please…"

He immediately turned his attention. But apparently being short caused a few problems.

"Momo, if you can hear my voice, you should see or feel a hand!" He called out to the mound.

He poked his hand through an opening, and after a moment, he grabbed another. And after much toiling, he managed to pull an arm out, then the body. Momo collapsed on the ground, weak probably from days without food. And stood up quickly and dusted herself.

"Shirou-chan! Why are you here?" she asked.

He grunted at the old nickname, unhappy with it, but he also didn't want to correct her. She looked pale, her bones were sticking out from an almost greenish skin, her cheeks were hollow, and her uniform was too big even though it fitted perfectly for years. Basically she looked even worse than him during paperwork deadline weeks.

He sighed, "Hinamori-fukutaicho, where is Kurosaki-taicho?"

Her eyes suddenly lost that bit of life she showed for the first time Aizen died.

"I don't know, he left for a captain's meeting, a week ago."

He felt his own body tense, and ran his hand over his spiked white hair. This news what not good, the taicho was missing. The division needed good leadership since their own captain…well lets say they don't talk about it.

Then he looked over the room. The room was filled to the brim with every kind of paperwork book or anything else that was paper. On the side of the room covering the wall, where the only window lied, was boxes. Boxes of boxes and boxes of paperwork, all the backlogged paper for the last five years.

This was no condition for a living being.

The small captain sighed again, and walked over to that wall.

"Shirou-chan, where are you going?" Momo asked.

He ignored her and pulled out one box from the wall.

Then hell broke loose.

Every box of paper shook and fell on top of the two; no amount of preparation or experience could have prepared them for the weight of the paper. Kurosaki probably kept rocks in them. Of course they dug themselves up, but now the sea of decay was expanding. Even the promise of sunlight meant nothing.

But at this moment a taicho entered. Not just any taicho, but the taicho who had ignored his entire division since he arrived. The orange strawberry didn't even bother to look at what he was stepping on; they just didn't matter anymore. He sat down on a box and stared at nothing with his blank amber eyes.

The small captain sighed once more then told Momo,

"Hinamori-fukutaicho, can Kurosaki-taicho and I talk, in private?"

She said nothing but left anyways. Now Toushirou turned to the man that was his job to crack today. He was taking every risk with this information, it could be worse. He could be facing a monkey.

"Kurosaki-taicho," he began.

Ichigo didn't answer.

Toushirou walked up to him and did a simple non-Hitsugaya thing; he punched the other captain in the jaw. Ichigo looked at the captain with surprise while his hand began to prod his bruising jaw.

"Kurosaki," Toushirou said "I found your sister, and preformed the konso."

Ichigo looked at him with shock. And Toushirou began to walk away.

"Matte!" Ichigo shouted behind him.

"Kurosaki, what you choose to do with this information is completely up to you. She might already be in the Rukongai right now. Nobody said you can't go look for her, but remember, being a captain means you are responsible for a number of things, one of them is the people of your division. If anything happens to them, it's your fault." He said before shunpoing away.

It wasn't as if he didn't want Karin back himself, sure he'd love to have her back…not in the way that it sounds like. But there were others to worry about, and he'd rather worry about them.

Look at Matsumoto! She needed all the help she could get.

Now he had a box of paperwork to do. He sighed.

* * *

Ichigo sighed, and called up a Hell Butterfly.

"Dad, Karin's in the Rukongai."

And he sent it to the third division captain.

* * *

_hey people who are of no help for me! i'm updating in the library. i have three hours till my band concert. *weeps* gawd i'm hungry. _

**_Reviews???_**


	5. A Plan

**I do not own Bleach. If I did, then Eminem would be rapping the intro, AND it will be uncensored. :D**

* * *

"Hey guys?" she asked her friends.

Her friends, Yogi and Berra.

They been living together for a while now, considering this being the soul society, it wasn't surprising.

But of course there were various differences between them and everyone else.

For example; one was a timid, shy, platinum blond haired girl who has a collection of stuffed animals with ripped heads because she wants to kill another person everyday, another was a tan boy who can't be in the same room with another person unless he was under extreme pressure, or he was building/creating something or with them in which then he appeared as very calm, and finally a black haired, loud mouth, girl with too much excess spirit energy and a passion for fighting dirty.

Oh yeah, they'll fit right in.

In actuality they fit in, with each other. Yogi, despite her appearance and shyness was a mastermind thief.

Who could resist such large baby blue eyes?

Bread makers; beware.

Berra made carpets, tools, and other creations that surprisingly sold for large prices.

Or maybe nobles, and everyone else just pitied him and gave him money.

And Karin went the old fashion way; hunting, fishing, and growing.

That kid had a very green thumb.

"Do ya ever think we can get outta here?" she asks.

Berra laughs, she was always up in the cloud, she had memories to ponder.

At least she had a reason.

Yogi gave her a sympathetic smile, squeezing her new stuffed animal.

"Of course we can leave, but question is, where can we go?"

"Ahh, I don't know," she says sighing with relief, "I was thinking 78th district maybe?"

"Ha, the day we leave here is the day pigs fly." Berra sneered.

"Well, there could be a day when that happens." She said.

"Doubt it," Berra said.

They all sighed.

Life here was boring; nobody came here anymore, ever since the Trains were built.

The Trains were a group of trains that ran from the 1st district to the 99th district and every district in between and vice versa.

There were two going in every cardinal direction, north, south, east, and west.

One going towards the 99th district and one vice versa.

It was the shinigami's way of both providing transportation to its officers and to make the souls happy.

Transportation meant trade, and trade meant many different things.

For instance: since the rich discovered that the 99th district had a tropical climate and it could grow tropical fruits, they all bought summer home there.

The place had fruit, and a great view of Oblivion the place beyond the soul society, whatever Oblivion was anyway and if you could afford to live there as a beggar, you could earn a lot.

Kinda like Beverly Hills.

Except more…old Japanese styled.

"Oh yeah," Berra suddenly interrupts.

He hands her a picture.

A girl with brown hair and a girl with black are in it.

She recognized the girl with black hair as herself, except the girl wears different clothes.

"This girl came up to my stand and showed me this picture. She asked if I had seen the girl with the black hair and I said no. Do ya know who she is?"

Karin didn't reply, but thought of the fragments of memories that she could remember.

The name Yuzu, hospitals (even though she didn't know what the word meant), strawberries, and white.

Personally she didn't know what Yuzu and hospitals meant, she hated strawberries, and the color white, she hated that color. It was too blank for her, she liked color, actual color, and not something considered a color even though it wasn't.

And the word rain, she knew what rain was; she didn't like it all too much, so why remember such a thing like that?

"Anyways," snapping her out of her trance "she says if I find ya, ask if ya can go to the shinigami academy. She'll meet ya there. No surprise since she was wearing one of those academy uniforms."

She smiles, what a lucky day.

"Well a pig must've flew cuz we're gonna go somewhere!"

"Yer actually gonna go to the academy?" Yogi says incredulously, her new bear was getting squeezed very hard.

"Why not, I mean we get fed, clothed, trained, and we have entertainment for free!"

Yogi and Berra exchange a look.

"Ka-Karin… then we… ain't sure if we can follow you then." Yogi stammers, her eyes guilty and her new bear near death.

But Karin just shook her head and laughed.

A nice, clear, non-snort laughter.

"Yer guys have spirit energy, yer just hav'ta use it!" her eyes already shining with excitement.

Yogi and Berra sighed; there was no stopping her once she gets on something.

"Where do we sign up?" asked Yogi.

"Depends, Berra did ya get her number or something?"

Yogi and Karin burst out laughing and Berra blushes.

They all have their differences, all of their own troubles, and their own reason to go through shinigami training.

But did it matter?

No.

* * *

_i just saw the Matrix. IT WAS EPIC!!! i loved morpheus... maybe i'll do the fma version of it starring the homculi. maybe... and i saw eagle eye, not epic in my mind. i'm gonna start spending my vacation in the library *cough* geek *cough* i know... and i'll go see avatar. _

_on a more random note, i spent the last minutes of my christmas pacing my room waiting for my nosebleed to stop so i can sleep... but i had fun._


	6. It's Called a Nudge

**I do not own Bleach.**

* * *

It was a bright and sunny day. The trees were green, the flowers were blooming and the birds were singing. This didn't go unnoticed by the regular bystanders. The captain-commander went for a very long walk and didn't come back, the 13th and 8th division captains went fishing for their fishing rods have long went rusty, and the lieutenants went sake drinking, outside as a picnic.

The Kurosakis decided to go to the graveyards.

However deep within the 10th division within the office of the taicho, was Toushirou. He had refused to go outside and now is currently residing in his office with the air conditioner turned up high.

He couldn't help it; he blamed Hyourinmaru.

But being the crankiest today ever since he was a baby was entirely his own fault.

Or at least partially his paperwork's fault.

Matsumoto had apparently abandoned paperwork for sake like always, but it annoyed him the most today of all days.

He was hot; he hated being hot.

And the paperwork never seemed to end either. He didn't want to sit at his desk laboring over piles forever.

Or did he? They never knew.

He did, he looked up at the paperwork for the fifth time this minute. He hadn't seen anyone come in with more paperwork for the last two days, so why was the pile the same size as before?

What was he doing before? Well he came in, before that he went to the 5th division to help Ichigo with his paperwork, before that… where was he?

He couldn't remember.

He looked up from his work, again.

The pile loomed way over his head.

But paperwork couldn't last forever, right?

-

"_There is no such thing as coincidence, but only hitsuzen."_

-

It sort of went down hill the moment they arrived.

The welcoming committee wasn't the most…welcoming. They had tried to beat up if not kill Karin for something along the lines of "daring to insult one of the greatest captains in all of history" or something like that.

All she did was give her family name.

Where was the insulting part?

What ever it was they never did find out for Karin punched, kicked, and stabbed all of their eyeballs with her fingers.

Then they sort of fell and were dragged away.

They did however give Karin, Yogi, and Berra permission to go in and take the test, reluctantly.

Then what was worse was that a) it was a pencil and paper test and b) the only others that were there were nobles.

Not that they had anything against the nobles, but they did become a little intimidating with that glint in their eyes and their head held high. Kinda mean, well only some of them.

It kinda reminded them of what they didn't have.

Then when they handed them their uniforms, and led them to the courtyard, there were practically only nobles in groups in the courtyard.

Sure there were a few loners that were lucky enough to get in, but there were about ten of those people.

So if all of their chances were taken away, how were they suppose to eat?

That question was better left unanswered.

-

* * *

-

Karin sighed as she wandered off separating her from her friends.

When she thought of being a shinigami, she was expecting something more, exciting. Like that warm feeling you get when you win a prize.

But there were no 'perks' to this; it was a pure, unfiltered, for an adult, job.

Kurosaki Karin did not do jobs.

Speaking of which, she was reminded to earlier today, when she was accused of doing something she had no intention of.

That's one of the reasons she hated shinigami, now.

It was hard to believe that she was going to be one soon.

She looked up at the sky. It was a beautiful sky, so clear and blue you could just about dive into it, and without a cloud! And she looked at the green tree around her then at an opening.

However there was, in the opening, a boy, about her size and was sitting on a stone bench.

Her first instinct, despite her self, was to go up and fluff up his hair. It was a fluffy white hair, what else was she suppose to think?

But two things stopped her. One was the fact that the guy was wearing a haori, not just any haori, but a white one, not just any white haori, but a white one with the number ten stamped on the back, and not just any white haori with the number ten on the back, but a captain's.

The other was herself, and her pride.

She was Kurosaki Karin, a girl who loved to fight and eat, not a creepy stalker who patted people's heads.

Besides the guy was just a boy, he probably didn't even have a zanpakuto.

Or at least she thought so until she saw it. It was long, a little too long for a kid like him, and it looked weird, but that was only what she thought.

How he got it was still a mystery.

She hadn't been down the hall of captains where all the epic pictures of captains are posted, nor has she read one of those books where epic pictures of captains are also posted.

So she didn't really know him, or care for that matter. If you saw a random stranger sitting in a field, would you care for him or her? She highly doubted it.

White hair, she started to wonder. She still remembered white from her old life. White could mean many things, like white walls, white bed sheets, or the white flesh found in cooked fish. Or maybe just white hair.

Nah. But still…

…what a coincidence.

She stepped on a branch.

The guy whipped his head around and disappeared.

Now, you should know this, Karin had eyesight. She might not have great eyesight, but she could see. She may not be able to stare, but she could watch. And that's what she saw right there and then.

A pair of teal eyes.

And what was amazing about that was the stunning contrast between white hair, teal eyes, and that somewhat-tannish-skin-that-doesn't-look-healthy-but-like-that-guy-was-in-the-office-for-too-long kind of skin. That against one another would contrast, but on this boy, they canceled each other out and blended perfectly.

_What a weird boy,_ she thought.

She turned and left.

-

* * *

-

_What did you just do!? _The blue green dragon hissed.

_It's called a nudge in the right direction,_ the icy dragon replied.

_The children are suppose to 'discover' everything themselves!_

_And we help. _The icy dragon answers smugly.

_Fool!_ The blue green dragon hissed.

_Wanna bet on that?_

_

* * *

HAHA!!! I FOUND MY BETTER COPY!!!!!!!!! :D it was in the place i least expected it to be in. _


	7. Pink Haired

**I do not own Bleach.**

* * *

Toushirou hated himself.

And no, he is not emo.

He just should have been more careful. He should have been watching, he could sense her reiatsu, but he let it slip. He actually thought it was his imagination. He did not have an imagination. He couldn't have imagined it.

But he apparently didn't think so at the time.

"Oi! Taicho!" a certain someone called out.

He made no reply, but did stop.

"How was your stalk-ee?" she said with a laugh.

She was tipsy. Her drinking didn't slur the word, but she was too intoxicated to do anymore paper work. So much for that well needed afternoon.

"I wasn't stalking anyone." He said, his frustration level rising.

"Uh-huh," So much sarcasm. She sounded like she knew.

"How's Karin?" Damn.

"She saw me, but I don't think she remembered."

Then all trace of drunkenness disappeared (except for the sake bottle she was holding). That way she appeared quite sober. The taicho kept his hopes high.

"Don't you think we should tell the Kurosakis?" she asked him a little softly.

First he looked around to see if anyone was watching them (they were after all, in a hallway) then he whisked them away to the safety of their office before answering.

He was a little more rigid for reason known or unknown.

"A memory is a delicate thing Matsumoto. Immediately regaining the memories quickly is not good for the brain. The body may, in order to cushion the effect, go into a coma, or it might reject them, or in the worst possible case, she might die. Knowing that, it's pretty obvious why we shan't tell the Kurosakis. Who knows what they'll want to do." The last part sort of ruined whatever the effect the scientific lecture was hinting towards.

_Shan't? Is that even a word? _Matsumoto thought to her self.

It was.

-

_"But the aspect of secrets is they leak out. If they didn't leak, they wouldn't be interesting."_

-

Maybe it wasn't a bad idea.

Maybe it could have been a better, but it wasn't.

It was down right bad.

And apparently everyone else thought so too. That's what Karin thought as her eyes glazed past the students in that creepy way that those villains in action movies do.

They were all either asleep, or taking notes (a.k.a. doodling), or like her, looking at the clock every few seconds for they had nothing to do.

The teacher didn't mind.

Karin pondered the reason why she bothered to attend this school in the first place. She hates tofu, she doesn't like lectures, and the ground was softer than the 'bed' here.

So, why were they here again?

She shook her head, bored. She learned by doing, not by reading or hearing.

Really, when could they leave?

How about now?

Distraction time!

She looked over to Berra for help. Much to her surprise he wasn't there in his seat. Did he leave already? She looked around the room again, and again, until she found him, in his seat.

_He was like a ninja! _She thought.

He disappeared, into the crowd like an assassin. And nobody even knew he existed. Well, people knew he existed but they forgot him the minute he was out of sight. Like a ninja!

What an awesome power!

But really, Berra was just nervous. Being in crowds of people, not his thing. He belongs in a workshop or some place where he can hole himself up for days and his experiments.

Not here.

He glanced over at Karin and saw that she was beckoning him over. She wanted to say something.

"Psst,"

He ignored her.

"Psst!" it was more ugent.

"What?!" he asked in a low whisper.

That was mistake number one. Everyone heard him.

"Berra, do you have something to say?" the teacher asked.

He blushed furiously, uncomfortable under the eyes of everyone.

At that moment Karin's plan went into action. She released her reiatsu, a lot, and people began to get crushed. As most of everyone began to suffocate, only her friends were able to withstand the pressure.

"Run away!" she shouted and they all bolted for the door.

But they all went different directions.

Karin wound up in a very familiar but unfamiliar place. All the white walls looked the same! It was a maze for goodness sake!

Soon she came across another who shared her same thought and her same problem.

On his shoulder was a little pink haired girl.

"Eh? Who're you?" he asked.

She didn't reply. He was way bigger than her.

"Kid, tell me what yer name is." He demanded.

"Karin," she left out her family name.

"Ahh, Karin," he turned and whispered to the kid, "What does Karin mean?"

"It 's summer pear!" the pink hair girl squealed. She was like bubble gum, bouncing everywhere, with way too much energy for a kid her age.

They walked in silence. After a while, the man got bored.

"Hey, kid, do ya know how to shunpo." She knew the theory. Did that count?

"Um… eh… sure?"

He grinned, one of those grins that signified death and bloodlust.

"See if ya can follow me," he then disappeared.

Now this was technically a problem. She didn't know what to do. Should she do what the 'book' tells her to do? Shuffle her feet really fast and hopefully something will happen? Or should she launch herself at the wall and she if she had moved?

And so she did.

Much to her surprise (again) she moved, quite a bit. In fact she moved more than two feet! Pretty good for a first timer.

"Eh? Kid, yer reiatsu's big." Why was this man here in the middle of her mini celebration? How did he get here? Why was he here? So many unanswered questions.

"Maybe you'd join my division once they let you outta that hell hole." She guessed he meant the school.

"Maybe even now,"

"Wait! What? But I still don't know stuff like kidou!" She just noticed that he was wearing a captain's haori. Man, she was getting slow these days.

"Kidou's for wusses." Well that settled it. "What's yer first name?"

She was surprised he'd ask that.

"Kurosaki,"

"Just like Icchi!" the pink girl shouted, but then looked confuzzled. "But Icchi only has one sister,"

What?

Then he started to look nervous. The grin was gone, his scars looked bunched up for a moment. He was getting unsure by something, but by what?

"Maybe that wasn't a good idea." Her mouth dropped open. It was his idea in the first place!

"I should go,"

"Wait!" she grabbed his haori. Big mistake.

"Get Out!" he shouted, like roared shouted. Never in her entire life did she hear such a massive voice. It scared the living crap out of her.

And he left.

_What the…? _Her thoughts were not completed as a bunch of teachers turned a corner. If she wanted to stay out she had to leave. She shunpoed again.

This time, it worked.

-

*

-

"Maybe we should tell Icchi,"

The man only grunted.

-

*

-

_You Idiot!! _The she dragon shouted as she chased her companion.

_Ha ha! What did I do? _

_

* * *

_

AND THE PLOT THICKENS! XD

i saw avatar today... only word to describe it: EPIC!!!!! it's like the Matrix but with aliens, more color, and more hand-eye-coordination weapons, but epic all the same. especially in imax 3D.

**Reviews???**


	8. Who's There?

**I dont own bleach. **

* * *

It didn't matter what others really thought of him, he was just there. Yes he was one of those family freaks like what the rumors said and yes he just happen to be missing a few family members. He had taste though; he liked Shakespeare even though he still read those "For Dummies" books. They helped him; they were relatively simple to read and broke down the task rather thoroughly. As for Shakespeare, he also had an answer to that. He felt as if it wasn't forced like one of those music artists who wind up producing crap because of all the pressure, Shakespeare was good at what he did and like to do it.

But Ichigo was just a little broken right now, he just can't think straight. He has other issues that need his attention, and that's exactly why when he heard a rumor that one of the Kurosaki girls was attending the academy, he fainted. But then he hadn't really thought about how they might have been talking about Yuzu. But when he came around, he held on to some hope, and decided to go there to see for himself.

Sadly, his direction skills were as poor as Zaraki's and he had no clue where the academy actually was. He knew it was somewhere, just not here. So he decided to go this one way that he had a positive feeling about and usually his institution was right.

Only problem was that Matsumoto-fukutaicho, the tenth division vice, kept asking him to go drink with her even though he was underage and she kept leading him the other way. The tenth division captain however told him to ignore her and follow his own instincts. So he decided to follow the younger, (in his mind) wiser one and managed to escape Matsumoto for once.

But to his surprise the direction he was heading was actually the 13th division and all he got was a long lecture from Ukitake-taicho. The poor boy couldn't get his head around it all, nor could he believe that Hitsugaya-taicho had lied to him. So he decided to go the opposite way. But that was when all the events started to go vice versa, Mastumoto-fukutaicho told him to follow his instincts while the tenth division taicho distracted him.

He did secretly think that they were all making fun of him.

*

"_Names are very important. Names have power. It doesn't matter if it's living or not, once you give it a name, you embodied that person or object with the same amount of power."_

*

It had become like a routine. Go to school, go to dorms, study, try to learn zanpakuto's name, then sleep.

Since they had a test every other day, it made sense to study.

And although the tests were easy, most of the other things were not. For example, the subject kidou, is one of those subjects you have to either spend long hours memorizing or you must have a natural ability to do it. And you also needed at least some reiatsu. To some, these standards are not a problem, but to others, say the ones that do need to spend hours memorizing, this subject is a challenge.

But the worst part was trying to learn one's zanpakuto's name. Although most got their zanpakutos in their first year, they don't learn the name or even see the zanpakuto until at least a few years after they graduate. Ones that do learn the name before they graduate are considered prodigies. But to the rest, it's a big disappointment, and a little stupid when one locks themselves in their dorms and try to converse with an inanimate object that does not respond. Most gave up very soon.

Zanpakutos, most of the time, only answered the master's call when the master was in danger or something. And everything else was a lie.

Kurosaki Karin was one of these people. Her zanpakuto was turquoise at the hilt and a lot like a regular katana. And when she 'conversed' with it, she began to feel very, very stupid. So stupid that she hid her face in a pillow.

"Did you hear?" someone outside her door asked. Her ears perked up, one always loved gossip.

"Yeah, Kurosaki-taicho, visiting us, US! Can you believe it?" That made her sit up. Taichos visiting the academy were very rare. They all had something to do, they've seen taichos before, even interacted with them, but never do they visit the academy.

"Which one?" she bursted out of her dorm. The small group talking looked a little annoyed at first, but continued.

"The fifth division," the genius child? The one, who defeated the evil Aizen, got bankai, got a hollow mask, got a zanpakuto, and got to become a captain without any help, and got to do all of this in one year, Kurosaki? The one with orange hair?

"I know! He's so cute!" some random girl squealed. They always liked to drag out the 'o' in so.

"Why do you think he's coming?" asked another guy.

"It's obviously because I'm the best!" the crowd laughed. Karin went back into her room.

_One of the taichos who share my last name…_ she thought. It had never occurred to her that maybe they were related, from what he saw in pictures (yes, all she looked at in the textbooks were the pictures) they looked nothing alike. He had orange hair. She had black. The other Kurosaki-taicho of the 3rd looked like her, but lots of people had black hair.

And she went back to her zanpakuto, and then the same process repeated.

*

"Taicho" asked Matsumoto "Why?"

He didn't say anything. He did have a reason though, he didn't want Kurosaki to show up and for everyone in the school to gossip on how her brother pulled the strings. He knew if that happens the school will most likely riot. Also he just didn't want another Kurosaki, three was enough.

"Brain problems,"

Matsumoto was starting to think that her little captain had a crush on a certain Kurosaki, but that still made no sense.

*

Today was the day that Kurosaki arrived. The students ran to their places sorted by name, gender and class.

The trumpets sounded.

The gate opened.

The captain stood in all his glory, with his zanpakuto, with his haori, holding himself up for all to see.

The students gaped.

The teachers made themselves look impressive.

Everyone stood with heads held high, even the sickly and the crippled, and the elderly.

Ichigo made sure to look nice for this 'outing'.

His heart sped up as he examined every student, then the girls, and his heart was pounding when he got to the K section…

…but Karin was not there.

* * *

_i'm changing my pen name to turtle-chan. what else could i say? my dad took the hard drive to china, since we couldnt figure out how to get rid of Security Tool. IT"S A MENACE!!!! D:_


	9. My Reasons

**I do not own Bleach. **

* * *

If she were to die a thousand deaths she would rather do so than this. But what was she to say to her teachers? What was she to the tenth division captain? It would seem as if she was nothing to those gods up above with bankai and all other greatness, but why oh _why_ ruin her chances at becoming big?! If she was only to have seen Kurosaki-taicho, maybe just maybe, she would've been noticed. Then she could hightail it out of that academy (with her two friends of course) and be someone, not a random unseated shinigami, but a real seated one.

Why couldn't those big leagued captains find some other poor sucker to pick on?

_And those people who call themselves the elders of the Academy must be wetting themselves! Two orders by two captains! In the same day! Ha! _she smiled bitterly at that thought. The 'elders' were clearly eager to fulfill the tenth captains commands. In fact they went as far as to lock her into a prison with steel doors and concrete walls! Did they expect her to break out or something?!

But at least they provided a couch for her to nap on. What else was it good for? There were no bathrooms here anyways.

But instead of the nice long nap that she had anticipated, she dreamt of a turquoise dragon in a black background.

She was sure this dream was different from others, first of all, the dragon was chibi sized and mumbling about something. It looked unhappy, really, really unhappy.

"Hey," Karin said.

The dragon leaped backwards and faced her, with shock written all over her face. For a few seconds nothing happened. Then the dragon grew to a size that towered over Karin. Almost as if she wanted to save her own reputation.

_Who dares come here to my own realm!? _she shouted.

"Um, I've already seen you..." the dragon mumbled something, and shrank down to it's original size.

"So, are you...?"

_Your zanpakuto? Yes. Am I gonna tell you my name? No. _she open her mouth to argue but the dragon stopped her.

_Because that's the thing, I'm so sick of all of this! Half the people in your class have captain level zanpakutos and most likely, half of your class won't ever learn their zanpakuto's names! It's more unrealistic to think I'm just gonna tell you my name! You have to wait like the others! _Karin found it odd to be yelled by a puny dragon in a dream. She didn't think that zanpakutos were this... frustrating, they were just swords!

"So, why am I here?"

_Beats me. I guess I'm supposed to tell you about your family then, at least indirectly..._

"What!? Why cant you just tell me?!"

_There's a law, idiot. _

"What law!?"

_I know that it's written somewhere._

"Can't you break it?!" Karin was getting desperate. She wanted to know.

_Well, how many captains do you know?_

"Captain Hitsugaya Toshiro of the tenth division," she belted out monotonously. The dragon looked at the girl with surprise.

_Him? Him of all people_?

"No, my teacher's kinda a fan girl, she thinks we should all remember at least that guy as a captain,"

_Do you know anyone else_? the dragon was thinking of Ichigo, it would save her a lot of time if the girl did.

"No, what part of 'fan girl' didn't you understand?" the dragon scoffed.

_Now what do we have? _Karin sighed. This was going nowhere.

"It looks like Nada."

*

"_God of Death?! Is he saying that Shinigami are real?!" - L_

*

Toushiro sighed as he did his paperwork. Usually he didn't get bored easily, but today was a bad day for him. He figured that he didn't need to take such extreme approaches to protect Karin Kurosaki. In fact, he didn't need to do anything at all.

He sighed again. He was having trouble thinking up a good reason to be doing what he was doing. It wasn't like anyone else knew about his plans.

_**You like her**_. The annoying dragon that was his zanpakuto called to him.

_No I don't_. He thought.

_**Yes you do**_.

_No, where did you come uup with that?_

_**What is she doing right now?**_

_The academy stops teaching at 3, it begins at 9, and it's 11 right now, so I figure she's at the academy._

_**See! You do like her! Why else would you know?!**_

_Reasons I refuse to explain... again._

_**Ha! My little Shiro grew up! How wonderful! **_The dragon started to dance in his mind.

_Shut up. _

Sadly the dragon just didn't get it.

*

-

*

Ichigo finally realized his problem!

He went to the academy announced. Maybe his little sister was afraid that he won't take her back. This time he'll catch her off guard.

* * *

_Yeah, i was busy... for like two months.... But it's my birthday! :D Sorry if it's short, it's the best i could do on a short term. dont kill me... i have an apple i need to finish..._


	10. A Pod for the Eye

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or XxxHolic**

* * *

"I got plan!" Her idea, it was simple, brilliant, and sure it might kill her if she does attempt it, but who cares?

Yogi and Berra looked up at her wearily. It wasn't the first time where she hatched up a crazy plot to get their zanpakuto's names. While they have accepted the fact that they're probably gonna get nothing from their zanpakuto's for a while, Karin got to speak to hers for a minute, now she's determined that it was her destiny to get a zanpakuto. And she just had to drag her friends into this mess.

"What is it?" they asked.

Karin smiled as she told her plan. It was once again, flawless, beautifully constructed, and so simple yet complicated; contradicting itself almost. A good thing and a bad thing as well.

When she was finished, her friends didn't look too comfortable, heck they looked squeamish almost.

Like they didn't trust her.

"Well Karin," Yogi began, hugging her new stuffed bear "it's not that we don't want to join you… it's just that we… don't… want to join you…" she finished off pathetically. The life of her little bear was almost destroyed.

Karin frowned a little bit; worried that she might be losing the alliance of her friends. She turned to Berra and asked the same thing.

"Well, I don't know. You're my friend Karin, but don't you think this is a little to… far-fetched?"

"Far-fetched? Ha! This is just one of my more simple plans!" In actuality, she had no more plans, but what they don't know won't hurt them.

They looked at each other nervously then looked away.

"We're gonna have out, Karin. Sorry…" Yogi said, trailing off at the end. Berra nodded his agreement with her.

Karin was out of luck, out of allies, and out of ideas. But that never stopped her. She never planned; she charged head on. She looked at them weirdly for a second, not believing, then laughed.

"You guys!" she breathed out while she laughed. For once it almost seemed strained, her laughter "are you kidding me?"

They said nothing; just letting her laugh. They said nothing as she gave all of them their roles in the plan. They just couldn't deny her what she wants; no matter how much they want to. They just couldn't wipe off the radiant smile on her face; so full of hope, and innocence. That's because they cared.

* * *

Toshiro Hitsugaya looked over at the papers that needed to be corrected and sent over again. The life of the average captain has been reduced to practically nothing it seems. Sometimes he wished for the war to come back, but then he'd remember all the trouble he went through.

He was in the middle of the second stack of paperwork when a sudden chill went down his spine; like someone took his whole spine out, froze it, and then placed it back where it was for a second. Matsumoto once called it something: the 'heeby jeebies'? He couldn't remember.

After a while he did remember another phrase: someone walking over his grave. Then he wondered a little bit. Where was he buried anyways? He was sure he was buried on a mountain somewhere, but mountains were tourist attractions to Japan, so was this normal? He scowled a bit.

_Am I getting A.D.H.D? _He thought; he wasn't usually this distracted. Especially over something as stupid as this. He was getting soft.

_**It's L~O~V~E! **_Shouted the dragon in his head.

_If this is love, then I hate it. _

_**Haha! Little Hitsu-chan is STAR~STRUCK~! **_The dragon was either high, or crazy. Or both.

_When will I die, and leave you? And for goodness sake;, why you come up with Hitsu-chan?_

_**Don't worry Hitsu-chan! It's C~U~T~E~! **_the dragon clearly missed the first question. Or he just chose to ignore it.

_When can I die… _he thought.

_**Don't worry! I'm with you for the rest of eternity! Haha!**_

Death seemed like a pretty good place to go now.

_

* * *

_

Momo was cleaning out the fifth division. Or rather she was looking at some things and ignoring the others. Her captain, of course, rather chose to do nothing but sit and watch her. Sometimes she feels as if she's talking to herself, which she did not like to do. But this time around, he had these two strings with connected to small balls in his ear. And these strings came together and led into this small, thin, rectangular box like thing that was palm sized.

She had no idea what it was.

But that didn't mean she was afraid to ask.

"Um, Kurosaki-taicho? What are you holding?" she asked in her softest voice. He snapped his head up at the sound of her voice, and stuttered a little bit.

"Oh, um, Hinamori-san, it's, a band. I think it's UVERworld maybe?" he said. But Momo had no idea what that meant.

"This… is called a uver-world? What does that mean?" she asked as she touched the outer surface of the metal gadget. Ichigo then gave it to her.

"Oh, right, you aren't from the human. This is an iPod, Hinamori-san. They play music."

She noticed that it was palm sized. It was square, with a big circle and a smaller circle in it with mindless symbols in four corners of the circle. And there was also a screen though Momo was sure it was far too small to be a computer. It had colorful pictures on it and words she didn't understand. And the name of it… wasn't it just a little too strange to not be suspicious?

"It's an eye-pod? A pod for the eye?" she asked.

"No, it's just a name, it a music player; and mp3 player?" what was mp-three?

"What does this string do?" she asked referring to that long white rubbery string coming down from the square and one corner. It looked like it could be unattached, but you would never know.

"It plays the music. From the earphone, right here." He said while holding up a small ball connected to the white string. He placed it into her ear.

Sadly all she heard was noise, not like the mandolins or the flutes called music, but noise. There was some male voice singing in the background, but… she thinks it's all computerized.

"Where's the music?" she asked.

"What do you mean? This is music."

"But where's the flute, or the gong or all the other instruments the soul society uses for music?" she didn't understand this part!

He rolled his eyes. "This is what the human world listens to. It's Rock music."

"Music for rocks?"

"No, it's the genre of music, you know with guitars and drums and stuff?"

"I've heard of drums before, the gong is part of them. But what's a guitar?"

"A guitar is an instrument made of strings. Never mind, just listen." And she did. But she didn't like it. As she opened her mouth to complain the song switched to a new one. It was a strong voice in a language that she didn't understand along with a few instruments.

She has never heard anything more beautiful.

Ichigo just shook his head. He never had so much trouble trying to explain modern technology to someone. It was always just there! Not that the Soul Society was anything like the human world.

It also sorta amused him when he saw how much he just expected her to know these things. It was amazing how much he depended on these things.

He just couldn't believe how much he missed that stuff. Technology, computers, his xbox, his PS3.

In fact, he just heard that a new portal game came out. He wondered when he would get it.

* * *

"_A bond of fate never disappears once tied." – Yuuko Ichihara_

* * *

_yeah... you see here... i'm NOT dead, i'm just lazy *ducks at the frozen/rotten tomatoes* _

_but... i have this little problem that i've forgotten about... karin's zapakuto... um... what's rain luck in romaji? _

_i know... i suck. D: _


End file.
